He Gets a Bad Rap

Every Christmas, I must take in a viewing of "A Christmas Carol" (preferably the George C. Scott version). There are many things about the tale that stand out to me, and yet, there is always one part every. single. time. that stands out at me. It's the part of the story where Ebeneezer Scrooge is in the presence of the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come and Scrooge says these lines....

``Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead,'' said Scrooge. ``But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me!''

The Spirit was immovable as ever.

Scrooge crept towards it, trembling as he went; and following the finger, read upon the stone of the neglected grave his own name, Ebenezer Scrooge.

``Am I that man who lay upon the bed?'' he cried, upon his knees.

The finger pointed from the grave to him, and back again.

``No, Spirit! Oh no, no!''

The finger still was there.

``Spirit!'' he cried, tight clutching at its robe, ``hear me! I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse. Why show me this, if I am past all hope?''

For the first time the hand appeared to shake.

``Good Spirit,'' he pursued, as down upon the ground he fell before it: ``Your nature intercedes for me, and pities me. Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you have shown me, by an altered life!''

The kind hand trembled.

``I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Oh, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone!''--from Literature.org-

 Like I said, I like this part =) I love the redemption part of the tale. Ebeneezer Scrooge gets a second chance to quit being a miserly jerk and instead becomes a man who all love and respect. What kind of person doesn't gravitate to something along those lines?

Well, on this year's viewing, Mom made a comment that has also stuck with me, almost as much as The Christmas Carol itself. We were talking about Scrooge and Mom said something to the effect of "But he still goes down in literary history as the miser. No one focuses on the man who he becomes--only on who he was before Jacob Marley's visit." I've been toying around with this statement over and over and over again.

Sadly, we as human being don't stop at remembering Scrooge for his bad qualities--we do it with everyone. That's our primary focus. We seem to thrive on telling people what they have done wrong as opposed to what they have done right. And I am as guilty as the next person....and it isn't fair to those people I am judging. Especially when Christ has given me a second chance at being made new.

My stone has been wiped clean in real life just as Scrooge's was in the fictional story. It's the promise of Christmas: New Life. God is good! So I am resolved to always keep the lessons of Scrooge and of A Christmas Carol and Christmas always close to my heart.

How about you? ;-)